The Modi government extended 7th Pay Commission benefits to university teachers.

With an eye on attracting and retaining talent, the Narendra Modi government extended the benefits of the Seventh Pay Commission to more than 7.5 lakh university teachers.

The Union Cabinet had cleared the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission for Central government employees in June 2016 and approved the recommendations on revised allowance structure in June this year.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar made the announcement on Wednesday evening after a Cabinet meeting and said more than 7.5 lakh teachers in universities will "get benefits of Seventh Pay Commission. We must attract talent in academics". In monetary terms, this would result in a pay hike for teachers anywhere between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000.

HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE SEVENTH PAY COMMISSION BONANZA FOR TEACHERS:

The Seventh Pay Commission benefits will apply to teaching faculty of Central and state universities and aided colleges. The pay revision will lead to an increase in entry pay growth by 22-28 per cent.

"The implementation of the pay revision will enhance the teachers' pay in the range of Rs 10,400 and Rs 49,800 as against the extant entry pay due to the implementation of the 6th Pay Commission for the pay of teachers," a government statement said.

The Cabinet's decision will bring Diwali cheer to 7.58 lakh professors, assistant professors and equivalent academic staff in 106 universities and colleges funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Union HRD Ministry.

Teachers of 119 centrally-funded technical institutions such as IITs, IISc, IIMs, IISERs (Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research) and NITIE (National Institute of Industrial Engineering) are also eligible for revision of pay under Seventh Pay Commission.

Besides Central universities, 329 universities funded by state governments and 12,912 government and private-aided colleges which are affiliated to state public universities are also eligible for salary revision under Seventh Pay Commission.

The Cabinet's decision on revision of pay scales for teachers will cost the state exchequer nearly Rs 9,800 crore annually. The revised pay scales will be effective from January 1, 2016.

For state government funded institutions, the revised pay scales will require adoption by the respective state governments. The Centre, however, will bear the additional burden of the states on account of pay scale revision.

In another development, the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday announced a revision of salaries in line with the Seventh Pay Commission's recommendations. A meeting of the Tamil Nadu cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami accepted the recommendations of a five-member panel.

The five-member panel was constituted to look into the suggestions of the Seventh Pay Commission.

Chief Minister Palaniswami said that government will incur an additional expense of Rs 14,719 crore annually. "Accordingly, minimum wage has been determined at Rs 15,700 as against the existing Rs 6,100 while the maximum wage will be Rs 2.25 lakh," he said in a statement.